Photo provided by Lauren Davidson -- The intensive care units at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge have been honored with the 2015 ICU Design Citation Award recognizing their design as the most innovative and humanitarian in the U.S.

ICU design at Lake named best in U.S.

Photo provided by Lauren Davidson -- The intensive care units at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge have been honored with the 2015 ICU Design Citation Award recognizing their design as the most innovative and humanitarian in the U.S.

The intensive care units at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge have been honored with the 2015 ICU Design Citation Award recognizing their design as the most innovative and humanitarian in the U.S., a news release from OLOL said.

The award commends the patient- and family-focused elements of the 60-bed ICU that is part of the hospital’s recently constructed Heart and Vascular Institute, the release said.

“In winning this award, Our Lady of the Lake has demonstrated its commitment to create a healing environment, promote safety and security, and utilize advanced design and technology for our most seriously ill patients,” said Terrie P. Sterling, chief operating officer for OLOL. “The design allows our clinical team to operate at the highest level of care and provide the best treatment for the patients we serve every day.”

The ICU Design Citation Award is given each year to an ICU that combines functional design with the humanitarian delivery of critical care. It is co-sponsored by the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Institute of Architects Academy on Architecture for Health.

The design of the medical and surgical ICUs at OLOL focused on incorporating natural light and family space to support healing, the release said.

The rooms are equipped with the latest technology, including ICU booms suspended from the ceiling to improve safety and video-conferencing equipment for mobile virtual monitoring of patients. The design was built around the patient and features elements like noise-reducing corridor layouts and the absence of lighting on the ceiling to prevent direct illumination in a patient’s eyes.

“We set out to build an intensive care unit that is both technologically superior and exceptional in its capacity to make patients and family members comfortable, and in partnership with the architecture firm VOA & Associates, we are proud to be acknowledged on the national stage for this achievement,” Sterling said.

The award will be presented to OLOL on Jan. 19 during the annual conference of the Society of Critical Care Medicine in Phoenix, Arizona.